By Tom Smith

A graveyard scene at the spook house.

Community involvement and acceptance are the major ingredients in the recipe for making any park district program a success. This is especially true when the program is a Halloween Spook House which calls for the creative ideas and craftsmanship of dozens of volunteers and the faithful attendance of hundreds of anxious children and adults.

All these important ingredients have been available to Addison's park district since it started sponsoring a spook house in 1976. Because of the time and expense involved, most community spook houses are sponsored by the Jaycees or other local service organizations. However, despite these money and time obstacles, Addison Park District has found the house can be a fun community project which helps generate revenue for special programs not charged to the taxpayer.

The 1982 spook house, for instance, raised over $1,000 after expenses, which funded a children's Christmas party, Halloween bonfire, and the annual July 4th community party in 1983.

Because of the revenue it generates, park district staffers take their task seriously. "We started planning for 1983's spook house on November 1", Sharon Kus, Addison's recreation superintendent and spook house coordinator, said. "Work committees are formed and meetings scheduled throughout the year so we can brainstorm to improve the previous year's project."

Four committees meet monthly from November through the following summer to develop the project. In the fall, the meetings increase. Because of the spook house's limited budget, all work is voluntary and work donations from outside sources are constantly sought. The committees include construction, which does the majority of the building; public relations, responsible for promoting the event; general procedures, responsible for selling tickets, hiring security and coordinating any other aspect which helps the operation run smoothly; and an actors committee, which coordinates the "spooks" in the house.

Committee members include park personnel, high school students, a policeman, fire lieutenant, business people, senior citizens and anyone else with a creative mind and willingness to work. Getting members of the community to volunteer for a project is never easy. Addison Park District enlists volunteers by appealing to the "child and creative potential" in every adult.

Volunteers are encouraged to design and develop their own scenes within the spook house. They are free to construct the scene and every effort is made to insure all the needed resources are available. The volunteers for the 1983 spook house have a formative task ahead.

Schools are also approached to help with the project. In 1982, two local education agencies helped with the trickier aspects of the project, while the regular volunteers did most of the nuts and bolts work.

"We lacked the manpower and time to construct some of the more difficult scenes in the spook house", Kus said. Therefore, the district approached the DuPage Area Vocational Education Association (DAVEA), a vocational school which services several west suburban high school districts, to help build some mazes and slanted floors, and the College of DuPage to record the many sound tracks used in the house.

Representatives from both schools were invited to a meeting in the summer of 1982 where the project was explained and their help sought. Kus told the administrators that the job would serve as an educational tool in terms of craftsmanship, along with giving the students a good feeling of helping with community affairs.

Another important volunteer group was the Addison Park District Senior Citizens Group which designed and sewed the majority of the costumes worn by the "spooks" in the house.

"We could not have attained the success we had without these agencies and groups", Kus said, strongly encouraging anyone who partakes in a similar project to use all the available resources in the community.

These groups were an important part in the success of the spook house, but the real stars were the imaginations and craftsmanship of the committee members. Different volunteers worked every night for six weeks, meticulously tending to every detail of every scene.

Much of the material used to construct the house is donated from citizens and local businesses; the rest is purchased by the park district. Hundreds of pieces of cardboard and wood, innumerable yards of foil, fencing, Visqueen, tape and tarp are spread and dozens of gallons of paint are used. The house is built into the gymnasium balcony and pool bath

Illinois Parks and Recreation 42 September/October 1983

New Halloween Safety Program Launched The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) and the Sampling Corporation of America have joined together to offer park and recreation agencies across the country a new Halloween safety program. The special program is known as the Super Safety "Trick-or-Treat" Bag™ Program and will be available to every park, recreation and leisure agency in America in time for this year's Halloween celebration. The program comes at a time of heightened concern for the safety of children at Halloween. City officials across the country expressed particular anxiety last Halloween following the fatal poisonings of seven Chicago area residents in what has come to be known as the Tylenol murder case. Many cities abandoned traditional trick-or-treat activities altogether, while others issued lists of safety suggestions and warnings. The Super Safety "Trick-or-Treat" Bag™ Program consists of three primary components: • A special fluorescent Super Safety Trick-or-Treat Bag™ imprinted with important safety rules: • A fluorescent Super Safety Costume Patch™ to be worn on a child's costume or outer garment; • "Child oriented" samples (free tube of Crest toothpaste, for example), as well as special information and offers for parents which are pre-inserted in the bags. There is no cost to agencies interested in participating in the Super Safety "Trick-or-Treat" Bag™ Program. Write to the Sampling Corporation of America, 1780 Ash Street, Northfield, Ill. 60093, or call (312)446-4980.

house at the Addison Park District Recreation Center.

Many of the helpers and spooks in the house are high school students. Because of the annual popularity of the project, most students come forward via word of mouth. In all, nearly 100 people helped staff the house during its nightly three hour operation during the four nights preceding Halloween. Those working included twenty spooks and ten guides in the house, dozens of ticket takers and line watchers and several Addison civil defense volunteers for security.

One of the more imaginative rooms was the wizard's laboratory. When frightened children and adults entered, they were blinded by flash powder and strobe lights and scared by flying animals.

Since the journey into the spook house began in the gymnasium balcony, patrons could warm up in the gym, watching Halloween movies, awaiting the frightening trip. The trip into the house featured a simulated space ship with an elaborate control panel utilizing Christmas lights and recorded sound effects. Aliens staffed the room to spring on unsuspecting visitors.

Patrons also visited a graveyard, complete with an underground coffin, headstones and an organ playing in the background. A slanted room, complete with strobe lights and several monsters followed the cemetery scene.

One of the more imaginative rooms was the wizard's laboratory. When frightened children and adults entered, they were blinded by flash powder and strobe lights and scared by flying animals throughout the room. Visitors also crawled through pitch black mazes, went down slides, and viewed several other horrors.

In all, over 2,200 people spent $1 to take the trip into the unknown. The price has remained constant since the spook house's inception, and according to Kus, is one of the reasons for the success of the project.

"People are looking for something inexpensive to do that will give them a little excitement", she said.

The total cost of the project was under $1,000, thanks to donations of time and materials, and reusing scenes from past houses. The helpers were treated to a pizza party following the closing of the house.

"It's a lot of work, but watching the people of the community have so much fun makes it all worthwhile", Kus concluded. "There's also a lot of satisfaction for the teens and adults who have worked so hard to complete the project."

Makeup artists create a monster face on a subject at the spook house.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tom Smith is the Publicity Coordinator for the Addison Park District. He is a 1980 graduate of Illinois State University and has previous experience as a newspaper editor, and public relations assistant with an association management headquarters.

Illinois Parks and Recreation   43   September/October 1983